


sugar

by lapinprince



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Baking, Denial of Feelings, Fluff, M/M, S4 time period, mentions of others - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 03:36:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15721173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lapinprince/pseuds/lapinprince
Summary: Ai experiments with some baking, but has some trouble trying to find a taste tester.





	sugar

**Author's Note:**

> i apologize to all those subscribed to me. youre here for p5 and yet sometimes i just write some rarer pair shit from way more obscure fandoms LOL 
> 
> this is a thank you gift to @[renmyuai](https://twitter.com/renmyuai) for stitching together some logs for me during a recent shining live event!! i never thought of camus / ai as a ship but this got. rlly cute sdkfjrljg 
> 
> this is my first time ever writing these characters and i am hoping very hard that i didnt butcher them ;__; also betaing was just me reading it over once so hopefully its not terrible. 
> 
> enjoy? haha. find more of me screaming about natsuki at @[laprincenico](https://twitter.com/laprincenico)
> 
> -♔

Ai stood in the middle of the busy and hot kitchen, taking in the sight of everything around him. It helped for him to pause and process his surroundings every now and then, so he had a firm grasp of the state of his environment, and this unfamiliar situation was no different. His eyes rested closed for just a moment, remembering the warm waves coming from the oven, the thick plastic mixing bowls scattered across the counters, the faint smell of vanilla in the air, the sound of the oven timer ticking away until his baked goods were ready. He opened his eyes again, readjusting ties of the flour dusted apron at his waist, using the back of his hand to make sure his hair was still successfully pinned back. This was exactly how he envisioned it.

Baking had always seemed like such a quaint past time in media, and every now and then Reiji would sneak into the kitchen and whip up a treat for the four of them. “Ai-Ai! Myu-chan! Ranran! I made a cake!” he’d chirp, his head sticking out of the kitchen door in hopes to entice his band members. The other three would always take some of Reiji’s offerings without complaint, eating them as they worked away and mumbling a compliment here or there, which Ai knew that Reiji took to heart. It didn’t happen that often, maybe once a month or so, but Reiji always seemed to be in a better mood afterwards, maybe because of the actual praise (as basic as it was) Ranmaru and Camus would give, in contrast to the usual. It seemed so easy to make that man happy. Regardless, Ai noticed that when Reiji baked, it was never necessarily with skill– he baked cookies or cupcakes that he thought the other members of Quartet Night would like. With love, Ai supposed. He wanted to experiment with it himself, see how easy it was to bake with skill. Perhaps it was possible to do both. 

The oven timer started to emit a loud shrill, snapping Ai out of his thoughts. His cupcakes were ready. He picked up the oven mitts, carefully put them on, and peeked into the oven. The cakes were a golden brown on top, a perfect level of doneness if he remembered the recipe correctly. He took the tins out of the oven and set them on a cooling rack, taking out a jar of toothpicks to test the cupcakes. After a toothpick slid out of the middle of a cupcake completely clean, he sighed in relief and started to pull the cupcakes out of the tins to cool properly. 

“Oi, are you baking?” a cheerful voice called. Ai looked up to see Reiji’s smiling face at the doorway. “I didn’t know you liked to bake. Is it something new?”

“Yes, I suppose. You bake for us all the time, so I wanted to experience it as well,” Ai replied, starting to clean up the bowls and utensils scattered about the counter. 

“Oh! Were you inspired by me, Ai-Ai?! I’m so flattered–” 

“Correlation doesn’t mean causation.” Ai brought the dirty dishes to the sink, covering up Reiji’s fake crying noises with the sounds of bowls thudding around in water. 

“You’re so mean–” Reiji sobbed, though he shook it off very quickly. “Oh, you made cupcakes?” he asked, drifting over to the counter. 

“Yes. Would you like one? They may not be cool yet, however.” He went to the fridge and pulled out a piping bag full of blue icing, bringing it over to the cupcakes. A hand hovering over them revealed that though the cupcakes weren’t quite cool yet, he would be able to get away with icing them now. Reiji grinned and leaned his elbows on the counter, smiling brightly up at Ai. 

“Yes please! Aww, I’m gonna get to taste Ai-Ai’s baking–!” he gushed. He watched with wide eyes as Ai picked up a cupcake and expertly swirled icing on top, garnishing it with purple sprinkles and offering it to Reiji when he was done. Reiji took it eagerly, looking a bit too excited for someone that was just about to eat a cupcake. 

“Thank you! Itadakimaaaasu–” Reiji took a bite, and Ai could almost see the man radiating sparkles, stars in his eyes. “This is delicious! You gotta tell me the recipe– or just bake all the time!” Ai watched him devour the rest of the cupcake with enthusiasm, but somehow his glowing praise didn’t make Ai feel any differently. 

“I’ll steal another one later. Thanks again!” Reiji announced, putting the cupcake wrapper into the garbage, practically bouncing off to his room. 

“Reiji would say the same thing even if it tasted bad,” Ai murmured to himself. The claim wasn’t wrong by any means, as Ai could probably give Reiji a bland appleless pie and he’d still manage to compliment it with a smile.

“...Are those cupcakes?” another, rougher voice said. Ai was brought out of his reverie yet again, the piping bag still in his hand. Spiky silver hair poked through the doorway. Ranmaru glanced away, as if he didn’t want to be there asking for baked goods. Or perhaps, he didn’t want to _want to_ be there. 

“Yes. Would you like one?” Ai asked, starting to ice the other cupcakes now. Ranmaru quietly crossed the floor into the kitchen and plucked a finished cupcake off the cooling rack. His eyes scanned the other cupcakes for a while, and as if that helped him make a decision, he took another one and shoved it directly into his mouth.

“Thanks,” he mumbled through cake crumbs. Ranmaru wandered off, and he was out the door before Ai could even ask him how it was. He sighed again, realizing that Ranmaru wouldn’t give much of an answer either. He didn’t realize that getting someone to taste test cupcakes was going to be this hard. He thought his kouhais would be good taste testers– but then realized that Natsuki would love anything Ai made like Reiji did, and Syo would just be happy that it wasn’t Natsuki’s baking. Haruka would just give Ai praise too. It was a bit irritating that for a bunch of people in an industry that revolved around performance and improvement, he could hardly find someone to give him proper criticism instead of the same automatic praise. 

“Perhaps I could ask Masato-kun…” Ai said to himself, finishing up with the icing, pausing to rub at his nose with the back of his hand. He started to pack the cupcakes up into containers, realizing he should probably offer them to Camus as well– 

_Wait._

Camus liked sweets. Ai would know this, as he has counted the amount of sugar cubes plopped into his tea before, and promptly erased the number as it was so many he couldn’t comprehend it. Camus also didn’t tell people what they wanted to hear. He would be a good taste tester. A bit of a bounce in his step, Ai finished cleaning up and gathered a few cupcakes onto a plate. He noticed that Camus’ teapot was in the cupboard, and so he filled it up with tea leaves and water to go with the cupcake. Steadily, he brought the platter over to Camus’ room and quietly knocked on the door. Surprisingly, Camus opened the door without asking who it was. 

“Good evening,” Ai greeted politely, still balancing the plate of cupcakes and the tea set. “May I come in?”

“...Mm.” Camus stepped to the side and allowed Ai into his room. He placed the platters down on his desk, and turned to him. 

“I made cupcakes,” he stated, matter of fact, as if the cupcakes weren’t there in front of them. 

“I noticed. I could smell them earlier,” Camus replied. “Is this my tea pot?” 

“Yes. I wanted you to try them, and I thought that tea would go along well. I used your lavender earl grey.” While others would be rather terrified to have been using Camus’ things, Ai was much too logical to even entertain that. It was for Camus, after all. Camus’ stony expression didn’t budge, but he reached over to the tea pot and began to pour into the cup. 

“Go get another teacup,” Camus said, dumping nearly all of the sugar that Ai brought into the tea. “And more sugar.” Ai’s brow furrowed. 

“Another teacup…?” he repeated.

“You’re joining me, aren’t you? Don't forget the sugar,” Camus added, stirring the sludge-like consistency of the sugar into something drinkable. Ai was still confused, but he complied with Camus’ requests. He returned with a cup for himself and another dish of sugar. Camus had pulled out a second chair at the desk, and he didn’t have to tell Ai to take a seat. He placed the items on the desk and sat down, somehow feeling a little nervous to be there. 

“Have you tried them yet?” Ai glanced up from pouring his own tea when Camus spoke again. He didn’t really have the opportunity– Reiji came steamrolling into the kitchen at the one point where he thought to taste them himself. He shook his head. Camus looked like he wanted to say more, but just his gaze felt piercing by itself. 

“Very well, I will try it.” Camus picked up a cupcake and turned it in his hand, appraising the icing job and the placement of sprinkles. He brought it to his lips to taste the icing, looking thoughtful as he presumably turned the flavour over in his mouth. When he was satisfied, he delicately peeled back part of the wrapper and took a bite. He chewed thoughtfully and swallowed before speaking.

“The icing has too much sugar,” he stated, though he licked some spare icing off his thumb right after saying that. “It has the slightest granulated taste. It should melt in your mouth.” Ai hung to every word of this constructive criticism, eyes wide as he paid attention. 

“The cake is a good texture though. The batter must have been mixed well. The cake tastes fine with the icing, it’s only evident as an issue when it’s just the icing. Most people do not eat just icing, so it is presentable,” Camus continued. “Go on, eat one.” Ai glanced down at the plate and picked up a cupcake, pulling back the wrapper and taking a bite. He didn’t eat cupcakes often, and with the amount of icing this one hand, it ended up being a rather messy affair. Embarrassed, he picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth as he chewed.

“I see what you mean. I will have to try again,” Ai said after swallowing. What Camus said felt much better than all of the praise Reiji gave before– in fact, he almost felt proud of himself, despite the fact that Camus’ criticism didn’t contain much praise. A small smile found its way on his face– he realized this meant he was probably _happy_ with what Camus said. He sipped his tea in between bites, and the two of them ate together and drank lavender earl grey in relative silence.

“Feel free to bring any more baked goods you make,” Camus said when they were done and cleaning up. Ai tilted his head, the fragrant taste of the lavender still in his mouth. 

“Did you want to eat this _with_ me?” Ai asked, draining his teacup soon after and placing it back down on the platter. Camus gave a curious look to Ai, his ice blue eyes piercing straight through him. 

“What makes you ask that?” Camus responded, an expression that Ai couldn’t quite pinpoint starting to appear on his face. 

“You asked me to get another teacup.” Ai gestured towards his empty teacup. He wasn’t quite sure where this line of questioning would go and what it would get him, but there was an unsettling feeling within him that just wouldn’t go away.

“Perhaps. I _do_ enjoy spending time with you over the other two,” Camus said, not meeting the other’s eyes and pouring more tea into his cup instead. Ai could see a hint of a smile– a true, real smile– on his bandmate’s face, too. He decided that he wasn’t used to processing such a sight, and that was why something in his chest started to thrum. 

“I see.” Ai couldn’t say much else, still trying to process what was going on– but even that was interrupted by a hand reaching towards his face.

“Uh–!” he squeaked, startled. Camus chuckled, his index finger reaching to swipe up the icing that was on Ai’s nose. Ai’s face began to heat up– not a frequent occurrence– as he watched Camus’ icing tipped finger disappear past his lips.

“I didn’t want that to go to waste. Thank you for bringing cupcakes, though I have some work to do now.” Camus gave the slightest of a smirk at Ai’s flustered reaction and pushed the platter towards him. “Would you mind bringing this back?”

“A-ah–” Ai stuttered, still stunned. Did that even align with his understanding of Camus’ personality? What did it mean? Who would even be able to see Camus being playful in any capacity?! A hand reached towards his face again, but this time he was too flustered to flinch. 

“You’re heating up,” Camus stated, “Are you going to be alright?” This time, the facial expression on his face looked somewhat concerned, another emotion that Ai would rarely see on him. Luckily, he was able to regain control of his systems and he snapped back to attention. 

“Yes. I’ll be fine,” he said, reaching out and taking up the platter. “Thank you for testing the cookies.” Cupcakes. Ai swore internally. He scuttled out of the room quickly before Camus could say anything else, only stopping to actually breathe when he was in the kitchen.

“What _was_ that–” Ai asked himself. His useless logical brain decided to try and repeat what happened, making his internal temperature rise again when he had just cooled down. He resigned himself to sticking his head in the freezer, standing there for almost an hour before Ranmaru stalked past and told him that he would jack up the electricity bill.

“What’s your deal, you never do weird shit like this–” Ranmaru barked, closing the freezer door. Little ice crystals had affixed themselves onto his eyelashes and hair, but otherwise he looked as if nothing had happened.

“Nothing,” Ai replied with a rather dead expression. Ranmaru’s face screwed up in confusion and he walked away. 

Ai spent the rest of the evening reading up more on human emotions until he was too frustrated with the various interpretations of everything. So, he decided that the only way to understand was to offer more of his baked goods to Camus. It ended up being too effective of a research method, though he did understand how baking with skill and with love at the same time could happen– he just felt a little weird about calling it “love”.

**Author's Note:**

> i played tsukiakari no dearest on repeat while i wrote this. i just checked how many times i played it. 25 times 
> 
> its ok tho id die for maeno. and shouta.


End file.
